Since the controversy over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” began, we have heard many deplorable and ignorant comments against law-abiding Muslim Americans who have every right to practice their faith in the United States.

Most recently, TV preacher Pat Robertson announced on his TV program, “The 700 Club,” that Muslims could bribe local officials to expand their influence. "Imagine what $10,000 does to a small, local politician in a small, local town," he observed.

A recent survey by the Pew Forum indicated that the number of Americans who falsely believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim has actually increased since his election. That astounding and dismaying finding has understandably captured a lot of headlines.

OK, people, listen up: “Jersey Shore” party girl Snooki Polizzi is not a good role model for American young people, Barack Obama is not a Muslim and the Christian cross is not a secular symbol or a highway safety sign.

The first two assertions are too obviously true to need discussion. You’d have to be pretty darn clueless not to come to those conclusions.

Fighting crime can’t be easy, but deputizing religious groups to do the job of police officers definitely isn’t the answer.

Fortunately, that shouldn’t be happening in North Carolina, thanks to a unanimous state appellate court decision yesterday. In State of North Carolina v. Yencer, a three-judge panel ruled that it is an unconstitutional “government entanglement with religion” to allow a religious school’s security officers to enforce state law.

The nuances of the Religious Right are admittedly sometimes hard to follow. But I was still surprised on Saturday morning to read a seriously misguided Washington Postarticle that touched on Christian Reconstructionism. As a matter of fact, I almost turned over my bowl of Cheerios.

For years, we’ve heard the Religious Right and its allies assert that the cross is a secular symbol, not a religious one, in order to get around the Constitution and keep Christian displays on public land.

We’ve always thought that argument was pretty ridiculous, but Religious Right activists keep trying. Here’s their latest proposal: a cross is not a religious symbol, it’s a tourist attraction.

Dove World Outreach Center likes being in the news media. The Gainesville, Fla., congregation is infamous for its vicious attacks on Muslims, gay people and others who fail to see things through a narrow fundamentalist Christian lens.

Naomi Campbell and Mia Farrow have told us what they know about former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Shouldn’t televangelist Pat Robertson be forced to do the same?

Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and a top leader of the Religious Right, may have some important information to reveal about the brutal dictator now on trial for war crimes. The two have had enough business dealings to merit some scrutiny.